1971 Curious Alice Anti-Drug Film from US National Archives

LCSNA member Jenny Woolf posted this intriguing video on her blog (which is well worth visiting, if you don’t already know about it). It’s from the US National Archives, and was made in 1971 for the National Institute of Mental Health, to discourage children from experimenting with drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes.

The animation and voice work are really quite good. As Jenny points out, they’re almost too good! Looking back now at this clip, the girl’s bouffant hair, and (ahem) eye shadow, is pretty trippy, too.

Here is a blog post from the National Archives, where they discuss the 1972 critical reception of the film. As one might expect, reviewers considering the film’s applicability as a teaching tool found the animation a little too entertaining, obscuring the intended message that taking drugs is a bad thing. Still, with proper guidance, the film might stimulate a helpful discussion. And for adults, it’s an interesting piece of film in its own right.

1 comment to 1971 Curious Alice Anti-Drug Film from US National Archives

Oh, I ran into this about a year ago in the wee hours of the morning when I had a migraine. I can’t recall what channel had it on (maybe AMC?) as a filler between their other programming, and given the Alice theme, I HAD to watch it. It definitely feels of its time period! A little Alice, a little 70s school filmstrip feel, a little Brady Bunch…